The Bernard Arms - the story of the name

The Bernard Arms has long been an important landmark, lying on the road from Risborough to Aylesbury, but the site now faces an uncertain future. It closed as a pub and hotel in 2011 and there is a planning application to demolish the existing building for residential development. These proposals have been strongly opposed by the parish council and many local residents. In the meantime the building has fallen into a state of disrepair.

The Bernard Arms in June 2015

Political links

Due to its proximity to Chequers, the pub has served many British Prime Ministers, including Harold Wilson, Edward Heath and John Major, as well as visiting heads of state, among them Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan and Boris Yeltsin.

Norma Major in her book about Chequers shows her notes about the visit of Boris Yeltsin:

John is with the President and I am with Naina, but we are hardly out of second gear before the convoy is pulling up outside the Bernard Arms and we see John and Boris knocking on the door. The pub is closed but we are within licensing hours. John tells me later that when someone announced the Russian President a voice jokingly called "Oh yes, and I'm the Kaiser!" Pierre welcomes us in and our party fills the Saloon Bar. We hastily lock the doors against the pursuing paparazzi and John orders a pint for the President."

Norma Major: Chequers - The Prime Minister's Country House And Its History (1996)

The most recent Prime Minister to drop in was David Cameron who visited in 2010 along with Aylesbury M.P. David Lidington during British Pub Week – an initiative to support pubs. The following year the Bernard Arms closed.

Following the closure, David Cameron seems to have taken his custom to the nearby Plough at Cadsden - with stories of him leaving his daughter behind after a visit in 2012 and, more recently, taking Chinese President Xi Jinping there for a pint.

Harold Wilson at The Bernard Arms April 5th 1976 on his last day in office as Prime Minister

The origins of the pub name

The pub’s name refers to the Bernard family and in particular to Sir Scrope Bernard, later Sir Scrope Bernard Morland, who was lord of the manors of Little Kimble (from 1792) and Great Kimble (from 1803) until his death in 1830. There is some evidence that prior to this the pub was known as the Chequers.

Scrope Bernard’s father, Sir Francis Bernard, was governor of the province Massachusetts, and Scrope was born in America in 1758. He was involved in politics, becoming Member of Parliament for Aylesbury in 1789.

After his death, the Manors of Great and Little Kimble were sold; this included the Bernard Arms. The sale took place at the George Inn in Aylesbury in April 1833. It was reported:

The Freehold Bernard's Arms public house, with an adjoining shop and cottages, stabling, buildings, yard and garden - £430.

Around this time, the name of the pub was changed to The Bear and Cross.

The Bear and Cross

The name continued to be used until 1933, when Walter Durling applied to change the name back to the Bernard Arms, following extensive renovations needed due to the widening of the road. The Durling family had been landlords at the pub since the 1890s.

The pub sign shows the arms of the Bernard and Tyringham families – the bear representing the Bernards and the cross, or saltire, the Tyringhams, and the family motto Bear and Forbear.

The Bernard Arms pub sign

The Bernard Morland family

Earlier this year we visited Nether Winchenden House, the ancestral home of the Bernards. It has a unique history having been in continuous family occupation since the mid 16^th century.

Nether Winchendon House

Sir Scope Bernard Morland made changes and additions and re-designed the mediaeval and Tudor exterior, cladding the house in stone and stucco in the fashion of the time, much of which has now gone.

On the wall of the house can be seen the Bernard family bear and motto, similar to that incorporated in the pub sign at Kimble. The family told us that the design of the pub sign is incorrect, as the background to the cross should be blue rather than red and thought that the bear looks very miserable and should have a gilded bridle.

NetherWinchendon House has limited opening times and offers guided tours of the house, usually given by the family.

Wisteria at Nether Winchendon House

Sir Scrope Bernard Morland is buried in St. Nicholas Church along with his wife, Hannah Morland, and two of their children – Thomas who died in infancy and William. A third son, Sir Francis Bernard Morland, is buried in the churchyard (see photo below). The Bucks Herald noted that this was necessary due to "the family vault in the chance being closed for sanitary reasons". (Bucks Herald 29th January 1876).

Grave of Sir Francis Bernard Morland in St. Nicholas graveyard

Inscription on the grave

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Charles Edward Stewart and the village hall

The Kimble Stewart Hall is the village hall for the parish. It was named after one of Kimble's residents, Charles Edward Stewart and his wife Katherine.

 The Kimble Stewart Hall 2015

Charles Edward Stewart was born near Glasgow in 1866, and his father Andrew Stewart was a prominent industrialist and founder of the company that became Stewart & Lloyds.  Charles married Katherine Anne Dunn in Glasgow in 1900. The family lived in London before moving to Lady Mede in Little Kimble before the First World War.

Plaque in Kimble Stewart Hall

Charles had established his name as a prominent artist of the time, though now rather forgotten. He first exhibited at the Royal Academy in London at the age of 16 and continued to exhibit for more than 30 years.

Although initially a portait painter, his later works include epic scenes of battles as well as more rural scenes of hunting and point-to-point racing. Many of these feature horses and dogs.

The picture below is entitled Balaclava, depicting the cavalry charge, hangs in the Cavalry and Guards Club in London.

Balaclava

Charles died in 1942. The Bucks Herald wrote about his contribution to village life:

Two of the oldest institutions, namely the Cricket Club and the Horticultural Society always received the support and patronage of Mr. Stewart. His contributions to to welfare of the village took various and practical forms. It was mainly through the assistance of Mr. Stewart that the necessary renovations were carried out to the timber and roofing of St. Nicholas Church Great Kimble.

Tablet in St. Nicholas Church, Great Kimble

It is perhaps in connection with Kimble Village Hall, now known as the Stewart Memorial Hall, that he will be remembered most. On a site given by the late Mr. E. J. Benyon, near the Kimble Railway Station, he caused a pleasant building to be erected to the design of Mr. C. M. O. Scott, a well known London architect, who is also a Kimble resident. On Armistace Day, 1925, the hall was formally opened.

In memory of his eldest son, Mr. Hector Stewart, who died in 1935, Mr. Stewart had a room added to the Hall and the name was changed to the Stewart Memorial Hall.

Extract from The Bucks Herald, Friday 20 February 1942.

His wife Katherine died in 1952 and was buried at All Saints Church, Little Kimble, along with their son Hector Stewart.  Charles is not buried there; instead he asked for his ashes to be scattered at Loch Katrine in Scotland.

Can you add more, or offer any corrections? If so, please do contact me.